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Chapter 36 – Think about it
There were 4 hours left of Max and Zoe's shifts but it was beginning to get busy in the ED. Connie walked up to Zoe "Dr Hanna, I need you to stay on a few hours tonight until Ash arrives. It's just too busy for us to cope with one consultant down." Zoe looked up at Connie "I guess I've not got a choice really." Connie turned around to walk back to her office and Zoe rolled her eyes 'There goes my evening'. Zoe looked around the ED realising that what Connie said was rubbish, they could easily cope so why was she asking her to stay?
Everyone carried on with their shifts until Max got a message from Connie asking for him to go down and see her in her office. "You off on a break now?" Lofty had walked up to Max "Apparently not, Connie wants to see me. Can't be good, never is with her" he said rolling his eyes. "Man you spend too much time with Dr Hanna" Lofty said laughing and walking away from Max. He walked over to the office door and knocked before hearing Connie "Come in."
"Max" "What is it Connie? I've got much better things that I could be doing with my time right now." Max was stood in front of Connie's desk as she sat down in her chair. "Yes about that. Here's the thing, I've had enough of the sneaking around and lies within my department. Since Dr Hanna has been seeing you her unprofessionalism is unbelievable and I won't tolerate it in my department." Max was stood looking at Connie not really taking anything in until he had to check what it was she had said. "Sorry, you what?" "You end it Max. If you don't I'll end her career here. It's down to you but I think it would be rather selfish to put your own needs above her well-established career." Max couldn't believe what she was asking him to do. "Are you being serious Connie? You can't do that, you can't force me to break up with Zoe-" "I'm not forcing you, but you know what will happen if you don't. Think about it Max, because you've got until the end of your shift."
Max left Connie's office not really sure what had just happened. This morning he was talking about proposing and now he was being backed into a corner and told to end it. He went up to his office and sat there thinking everything over, and all the possibilities that there were. He would never risk Zoe's job, it meant everything to her being there and treating people. Max knew the answer to all of this, but it didn't mean he had to like it or even want it. This was going to destroy both of them.
Zoe was busy downstairs when she got a text from Max. Meet me outside in 5 minutes, we really need to talk. Zoe immediately became worried because it was not like Max to be like that. She finished signing the patient documents before grabbing her coat and going outside. When she got outside she saw Max pacing back and forth by their normal smoking spot. Zoe carefully walked up to Max when he looked up and saw her "What's going on Max?" He stopped pacing and just turned around to face the other way "I can't do this anymore Zoe." She knew that everything was too good to be true at the moment. "Us, it's not working." He turned around to face her, seeing her almost crying. "You said yourself we wouldn't be forever, it was just fun and now it's not. I'm sorry, but we can't carry on like this pretending it's going to work." Zoe was stood with her hand over her mouth feeling like her world was crashing down around her and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
"Max… Where is all of this coming from? Everything was fine earlier… I don't understand…" There was only one way Zoe would listen to him and one way that he would be able to protect her from Connie. "Don't try and pretend like you didn't know this was coming. You slept with Nick only a little while ago, does that not show you that this is not meant to be!?" "Don't you dare try and turn this on me! I can't believe this… You're trying to make me look like the bad person here, when I sacrificed everything for you!" Max made it look like he was getting angry when really he was aching inside for what he was putting Zoe – the women he loved, through. "That's all it's been though hasn't it. You, you, you and making it sound like I was holding you back. Well now I won't be will I? It's over and you can go and do whatever you want now." Max turned away from Zoe because he could feel himself breaking apart. Dylan had walked outside and overheard part of their conversation. "This is what you want… Because this is it, there will never ever be anything ever again Max... I genuinely can't believe you. I should have let you leave all those months ago, because you're nothing but pathetic and immature!" She took off the ring that Max had bought her and put it on the bench next to him before turning around and rushing back inside, tears streaming down her face. "Zoe!?" Tess and Charlie saw her walk back inside. She slammed the door to her office and sat down at her desk. What the hell was happening? She was crying hysterically now and she couldn't stop herself. Connie had witnessed it all and was stood by the nurses' station smiling to herself before turning around and heading back to cubicles.
Max was still outside with Dylan stood behind him. "What are you doing Max?" He turned around to see Dylan "Don't start. You've no idea what I've had to do" Max walked back inside and straight past the office door. He saw Connie stood by the stairs "I hope you're happy" he snarled at her as he went upstairs to his 'office'. Once he was up there he locked the door and broke down himself. He sat in the place that held so many memories for him, and looked at the ring. 'How has everything come to this?'.
There was a knock on the door before Tess came in. "Zoe…" she walked around to sit down next to Zoe. "What's going on? Was it about the baby?" Zoe just looked up at Tess "He doesn't even know about it. He… We're… It's over Tess and I don't know how it all happened. He told me that he was done with this, us." She began crying again and Tess hugged Zoe. "Everything's going to be alright, it might not seem that way now but it will. If he can't see how amazing you are, he doesn't deserve you." Connie walked into the office "Zoe? What's wrong, the porter finally slipped up-" "Oh shut up and stay the hell away from you evil bitch." Zoe never got that angry with people, but she had had enough today. Zoe left the office and walked towards the staffroom. Tess picked up Zoe's things and followed her, deciding she was not letting Zoe stay alone tonight.
Max had gone to the pub and had already had a number of drinks. Lofty walked in looking around all directions for something. He spotted Max at the bar and went to sit with him "Max, what's going on with you? One minute you love her so much and want to spend your life with her, now you can't be around her and have ended things." Max downed the rest of his drink "You've no idea what is going on up here" he said tapping his head. "Right you've had more than enough, let's get you home." Lofty put Max's arm around his neck and lifted him up slightly, while trying to walk him outside to get home.
Zoe was staying at Tess' the night. "How many people know Tess?" Zoe was staring at the floor "Well, Dylan told me what had happened and he told Lofty because he saw Max head into the pub straight after he was with you." Zoe's eyes started to water again. "Zoe, maybe if you speak to him tomorrow and tell him everything about the baby-" "No Tess. He didn't want to be with me, I'm not going to tie him down through having a child. He made his feelings clear tonight, so it's done." She started crying again and Tess sat there comforting Zoe until she was ready to try and get some sleep.